Wednesday, December 30, 2009

33 is a magical number according to Dan Brown.

33. 3.3. I see a connection. I also hear voices and smell sounds, but that is just the caffeine and migraine pills talking.

On to relevant topics!

This is possibly going to be the only semi-serious post I do for the next while, as I have nothing of interest to say besides this.

WotLK and the case of the dead guild.

Everyone that plays WoW, whether they've been in the same guild for the past 4 years, or hop guilds every couple weeks knows that WotLK killed guild longevity. You can PUG the current content and have a high rate of success, and there is no down side to hopping guilds. I know that the new guild system that will be released with Cataclysm will change all this, but I'm not sure if in the right way.

Lets take me for example. I have my select group of people I talk to, and everyone else doesn't really matter to me. Yeah it sounds mean, but there are just certain people I really don't like or care for. Now, lets say that those 3-4 people or however many it is break off to start their own guild, or quit, or whatever floats your boat. These people were the only reason you were still in the guild you are, and now that they are gone, what are you to do? Sure you could quit and go elsewhere, but after all the time you spent with the guild, you would lose too much, so you decide to stay. Several things could happen, some good and others not so much.

1. You stay in the guild, trying to deal with the fact that you don't like most of the members. You raid with them like you used too, but the lack of people to talk to drives you to play less. Now, you only log on to raid, and leave as soon as that is done. After a couple weeks of this, you are confronted by the Guild Master, or an Officer and asked why your attitude is so poor. What are you going to say? Sorry, but I hate most of the people here, I just don't want to lose all the things I've earned with you? That seems like a good solution.

2.You leave the guild, and start to look for a new one, but with little luck. With the new system, guild leaders may be reluctant for new members, as they can't be certain that you weren't kicked for bad behavior. They could easily assume that if you are guild-less even with the new system in place, there is a very good reason for it.

3. You decide you are only playing the game to talk to friends, and leave to play with the people that are still around. You have fun, raid when you feel like it or not at all, and all ends well. Sure, you might not be in a progression guild, but if you don't need that to have fun, then it might not be for you.

4. Seeing as you talk to your group of friends outside of the game, through email or Myspace or whatever your preffered medium is, you decide that you really have no reason to play anymore. You quit, but still keep in contact with your friends, now without the hassle or drama of the game.

5. With your friends rarely on, and no guilds interested in you, you go looking on different realms. Maybe there is a new guild looking for members, and you could be a good fit. After much deliberation and talks with the GM, recruitment officers or others, you make the switch. You join the guild, find people you enjoy to play with, raid with or otherwise, and go on playing with them.

These are just a few things I think of when someone mentions the new guild system. Sure it might makes guilds stronger than BC days, possibly even the days of WoW classic, but is it going to make it better to be in a guild, or punish people too much for leaving one?

NEXT TOPIC!!!

I love healing. It is one of the more rewarding things I've ever done in a video game. To know that I am essentially saving my party members lives in the face of death, I can't help but to feel accomplished. Now, as a healer I have a special relationship with tanks. I have to know that they are competent, and they need to know that of me. I've always wanted to know what it was like to tank, to be the one front and center keeping the bad guys from smacking my party instead of the one patching up the smacks. And at level 30, my protection paladin fulfils the awesomeness I always thought tanking was.

Tanking is vastly different, yet incredibly similar to healing in how you have to play. I can't just run into a room, consecrate and smack the mobs. I have to pay attention, know when a mob is attacking someone other than me, and know how to get them back to me. I have to be able to LoS caster mobs, or taunt them everytime they attack something else if I can't LoS. Things you might not think about if you aren't a tank become blaringly obvious once you strap that shield on and yell at the mobs to attack you instead of the shaman with green glowing hands.

As I have no interest in raiding, and quite frankly in healing idiots that don't know their ass from their thumb, my paladin is now my main. Don't expect a lot of updates, there are so many better sites on all things paladin than this one could ever be.